FIREFLY, which earlier this month introduced four-weekly flights between Singapore and Kota Bharu, the state capital of Kelantan (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 29, 2012), is keen to launch more routes from Singapore, but has to first overcome the limited slot availability at Changi International Airport.
Firefly CEO, Ignatius Ong, said: “Changi is highly congested, especially in the morning. We are constantly in talks with Changi Airport Group to negotiate for more slots, but for the time being, as far as we know, none are available.”
“That’s why we’ve had to reduce our weekly services between Subang and Singapore to accommodate the new Kota Bahru-Singapore route, and use what slots we have creatively,” he explained.
Ong said the Singapore-Kota Bharu flights were targeted at business and VFR travellers, and that Firefly was expecting “around 60 to 70 per cent of traffic to originate from Kelantan, with the remainder coming from Singapore”.
The Malaysia Airlines subsidiary, which will shift its Singapore operations from Changi Airport’s Budget Terminal to Terminal 2 from September 25 (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 1, 2012), has also boosted its Kuantan-Singapore services to a daily from four flights a week previously.
“Firefly is constantly evaluating the viability of new routes, and we are hoping to (acquire) two to three more ATR planes in the medium term to extend our reach,” Ong added.
